Now, getting there was a bit of a story. Sunday, there were 3 cruise ships anchored in Hvar harbour. I am not sure where the tenders were docking for the other two but for the P&O one, it was right along the same dock where the ferries come in. So, picture all those cruise ship passengers neatly lined up along the edge of the dock and patiently waiting to board their tender. Then, picture the mob (no line here) that almost assaulted the ferry when it was time to board. It was every man (woman and child) for themselves and everyone just barged through the cruise ship lineup. No respect. Then, to make matters worse, the ramp going up (and I mean UP) to the ship was at a very steep angle and it was all I could do to haul my suitcase up it, grab a bar on the ship to pull myself that last foot onto the boat. Everyone behind me was lucky I didn't lose my balance or my grip on my suitcase. It would have wiped out everyone if it had rolled down the ramp.
And the nightmare continued. The boat was packed (it had originated in Dubrovnik) so finding a seat was a bit of a challenge but we did manage to find two seats together having abandoned our luggage at the back of the lounge near the already overflowing luggage racks with the hope it would still be there at the end of the short journey. Once we departed, the seas were immediately quite bumpy and, by all accounts, not everyone one board was okay with that. The guy at the bar who, up to that point, had been pouring drinks, suspended that operation and starting moving around the room observing people and passing out sick bags as he deemed necessary. Let's be clear, they were! Of course, as veteran passengers on BC Ferries and various other forms of water transportation, Linda and I were fine. In fact, we rather enjoyed it, perhaps except for the various wails and screams of some of the "girl" passengers when the boat crashed onto the water after crossing over a big swell. There are two island just off Spit and we sailed between them so once we were in the protection of those, the seas calmed - as did the neurotic passengers - and we arrived in the harbour only about 10 minutes behind schedule. How exciting!
Once off the boat and, thankfully, the ramp here was way less steep so easy to walk down, there were plenty of people more than happy to offer us a ride where we needed to go. We settled on a guy who said it would cost 100 HRK or about $20. That seemed fine to us given what we'd been paying in other places. We did find out later that between 50 to 60 HRK would have been more appropriate so we were ripped off. After about 10 minutes, we arrived at our destination: the apartment we had rented for the next few days. The owner was lovely as was the apartment. It has a lovely view of the sea and is modern and has all the amenities you could want - including the much sought after (by Linda) ironing board. We got settled in and then headed down to the beach for a "refreshment". The back of the Radisson Blu Hotel is across from our apartment so we went to the hotel's Mistral Beach bar. I forgot to put my camera back in my purse so these photos are from my iPhone.
We had been told we could walk into the centre along a promenade and it would take about 30 minutes. After having our drinks - mine a rose wine with ice - we starting walking and walking and walking. Then we came to the marina where, clearly, there was no more promenade. So, we walked up a hill to try and figure out where to go next. Our map wasn't helping. Linda and I asked two different people and they gave us totally opposite directions. So, at the next place I saw a guy sitting outside a bar, I asked him for further directions. Well, wonder of wonders, he was a cab driver and for about $10 took us to the seafront. Whew!
I had been exchanging emails with a woman I knew in high school who now lives in Switzerland. She and her husband, coincidentally, were in Split at the same time as us and we were trying to meet up. The timing wasn't great. She and her husband had an early dinner and we were arriving later. Linda and I wandered toward what looked like the palace and took a few photos.
Then, I got a text from Bev saying she could meet us for 15 minutes at 7 pm in front of the gate going into the palace by the Crocs store. We had no idea where that was but, all of a sudden, I looked up and there was a Crocs sign and opposite it sitting on a bench was Bev. She only had about 20 minutes but gave us a quick orientation to the old town and took us to the restaurant where they'd had dinner. They'd enjoyed it so we decided to go there as well. So, while we only had a short time together we did manage to connect. One quick photo is included to prove it (and, bear in mind, I hadn't had access to a hair dryer in a week and there was also that traumatic ferry ride so I look a bit of a fright!
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| Part of the back alley of Restaurant Gregolevante Konoba |
After dinner, we headed for the taxi stand for a ride back to our part of town. Being inside the old town which is mainly an old palace covering 10 acres was magical. I only wish I had had my camera with me to get some photos. However, we will be back there to get some, I'm sure . There were Roman ruins everywhere interspersed with today's restaurants, stores and apartments. The contrast between the old and new was intriguing - sort of like Spit has a split personality.
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